When Isaiah Bailey came on stage near the end of last August’s Broadway In Chicago Summer Concert to perform “Music of the Night,” the audience greeted him politely. It’s the signature song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” of course, and here was another rendition. But as soon as he took the stage, Bailey made time stand still as he quietly intoned its familiar lyrics.
What stood out was the angst and vocal restraint. This is a song often oversung, but Bailey began in a tender, almost pleading-like way yet with great clarity of tone. Instead of over-vibratoed high notes, the lyrical line was allowed to ebb and flow. The effect left the summer crowd breathless.
“That was my first public performance of singing that song outside of the audition space,” says Bailey, who is leading the North American tour of “The Phantom of the Opera,” currently at Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre through February 1. “It had just been announced that I was playing the Phantom about maybe four days before that concert.
“Having the opportunity to actually delve into the character and the power, the beauty, the simplicity and the complexity of the lyrics has taken my understanding of the song to, I think, a new level. The way that I present it now in the show and having a bit more context and more depth to the character through my experience in rehearsal and now in a run of the show, I think there’s a greater understanding and appreciation for its words and how its words have to carry the beauty of the music. It’s not just about the beauty of the music, though the writing, the composition is stunning in itself. But the words carry those notes to a higher place than if it was just the notes themselves, you know?”
Although a veteran Broadway musical performer with a background in church singing and opera, Bailey admits that “Phantom” was not that familiar of a property to him.
“I came into this show knowing about the show, of course, but if I’m being honest, it was never really on my radar as something that I could see myself doing. I was introduced to it back in 2014, on the night that Norm Lewis debuted as the first Black Phantom on Broadway.”
How many Black Phantoms have there been?
“I’m number five. During the Los Angeles production, Robert Guillaume was the first Black Phantom ever. And the first Black Phantom on tour was Derrick Davis.”
Bailey is the first Black Phantom not to wear a white mask. “It’s so beautiful. The way that from afar, it’s still giving the illusion of the white mask. But it’s not. It’s like a bronze or a copper color and it looks like a mask that fits to my skin. I think it’s so cool because they have never done that before!
“What I love about this creative team is they don’t want me to recreate any other Phantom that has ever been, which I’m so grateful for. They have really catered this ‘Phantom’ around me. It was a little hard for me at first when they would ask me to do something, and I’d do it, and then they’d say, ‘Ah, it’s not working.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, is it me?’ It’s not me, but it is me. They want it to look perfect on me. So they’re willing to change things. Not because I can’t do it, but because what has worked on somebody else in the past may not work with me. They want this story to be real and not to look put on as if I am acting a character, but that I am actually this character. That no one is ever taken out of the story because they see me acting, if that makes sense.
“[Producer] Cameron [Mackintosh] came in to rehearsals and gave some amazing feedback. A few changes were made, and I love them because they make sense to me. It’s been really cool. I really enjoyed having him be a part of the rehearsal process. He really helped. Andrew [Lloyd Webber] came as well. It was such a blessing to have him in the room, it was such a pleasure. I feel like he was really pleased with the entire company. I mean, this company, I tell you, is otherworldly.”
Mackintosh has done with this new touring production of “The Phantom of the Opera” what he did when he rethought “Les Misérables.” No voice is left unturned. The smallest part is solidly sung. That approach turned “Les Mis” into a completely new experience. And the same thing is happening with “Phantom.”
“In this show, everybody is a trained singer.
“Our Christine [Jordan Lee Gilbert] is making her national tour debut. She’s been more into opera as are a lot of people in our show. It’s kind of half and half. Some people have dabbled into both worlds of musical theater and opera. I have not done opera since college, but that’s where I began.”
Bailey has the vocal technique and control of an opera singer to draw upon as needed.
“In college at Oklahoma City University, I was pursuing a degree in classical vocal performance, but I was also doing a lot of contemporary-style singing outside of school. I was singing at churches, events; I was over at the gospel choir because I grew up singing gospel music. That is my true foundation and background. The classical and gospel worlds have merged together for me which is what I find this character needs. He’s not fully an operatic singer; he has to also have the ability to go into more of a contemporary style. The way that I approach it, I have to go into more of an open belt and not so rounded of a sound in some moments.”
Did show composer Andrew Lloyd Webber have any specific suggestions for Bailey?
“The only advice I really got from Andrew is that he wanted to hear more of my lower notes in ‘Music of the Night’ at the beginning. What I’m singing beforehand is so high and then having to lower my larynx to get those lower notes out, I had to navigate my way through that.”
Chicago is only the third stop on what is planned to be a multi-year North American tour for “Phantom.”
“I have known that there are ‘Phantom’ fans everywhere and they love this show. But my goodness, was I underestimating the love people have for this show! I will say, I came into this show respecting it, honoring it, knowing that it was beautiful. But as I was doing it, I fell more and more in love with it. And I understand now why people have such a love for it.
“I was not expecting that I would go through the stage door every night and just hear people’s stories. For a lot of people, this was their first Broadway show. Or that night was their first time seeing the show. Or they’ve seen the show before and they brought their family or their children. Seeing how this show is moving people, I was not expecting that at all.”
How have Bailey’s own experiences influenced him in his characterization of the Phantom?
“I’ve experienced, you know, racism and all of that, but I don’t often bring in that motivation to this character. My motivation has been just my own personal life of feeling rejected and feeling unloved and having to do things in order to get love and not realizing that I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to buy gifts or act a certain way to gain people’s love. That was my experience, and the things that I went through as a child have really influenced how I play this role.
“I remember the first day we ran through the entire show. I couldn’t even finish. I mean, you could hardly understand what I was saying because I was crying so hard because it was a moment of true understanding of the character, where I knew exactly the pain that he was experiencing. And I could literally feel that.
“Having to retell that story was something that I needed for me to have a fuller understanding of the Phantom’s character, so that every time that I step foot on that stage, I bring that truth and that honesty to him. Without what I have walked through in my life, I wouldn’t be able to fully understand this character. And yes, it’s different situations, but I get it. I get it wholeheartedly. And it just makes this role so special to me because I’ve been there.
“I think that you can really hear my church background in the final scene I sing, because I just open it up, and I feel like I’m in church actually, when I sing that final moment, because I have nothing left. Whenever I sing at church, I sing until I have nothing left, you know? And in that moment, it’s like he has nothing left to give, and I get so excited to sing it.
“Whenever I sing at church, there is such a freedom that comes over me. Or whenever I’m doing concerts, or I’m singing gospel music, or I’m doing my own music. I’m not necessarily worrying about, you know, a composer, and a director, and all those things. I’m just free to do my own thing. I am in this place where it feels like what I would imagine heaven is like, and I can just be fully who I am and just let everything within me come out. And in that moment of the final layer, I just allow myself to be free. To let it all out.
“The ending of the show reminds me of the feeling that I have when I’m in church, which is one of my most favorite places to sing. It’s exhilarating. It’s so exhilarating to be doing this, and every day I look at myself in the mirror before I walk out, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, you get to do this.’ And I get to bring my whole self to it. I don’t have to hide portions of myself in this role; I’ve never had a role like that, and I’m just so thankful.
“A friend of mine said something so powerful the other day, that I wasn’t chosen because they were looking for a ‘Black Phantom,’ but because I was a Phantom that they saw fit what was needed in this time. A lot of times, when you don’t always see a person of color in a particular role, people will come out just to see, ‘Oh, are they going to fit the mold?’ or ‘I’m just going to see him because he is Black.’ But I hope that people are coming to see the show because of the show. I know it will be a drawing factor for some people who have never seen the show and identify as people of color, and I’m grateful. But I hope they come to the show and see that it has nothing to do with that. I am just a human being telling this story.
“But I feel like my being in this position at this time is drawing in newer crowds, which I’m grateful to be a part of because this story needs to be told and it needs to be seen. Being a part of this company at this time is, I think, important. Seeing people’s true hearts and humanity and not the scars or the things that make them different is so important because my God, we are so, so focused on the things that make us different and have used that to divide us! I believe that this show will put a mirror to people’s faces if they allow it to see that we are actually all very similar in many ways yet with beautiful differences.
“We have to see the heart and the inside of people. If we dig deep to see who people truly are and their heart of hearts, I think it would help us to be more connected than we are today in this time. I hope that people can see that message in this production.”
Broadway In Chicago’s “The Phantom of the Opera” runs through February 1 at Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 West Randolph. For tickets and more information, visit broadwayinchicago.com.
